DRONES IN OB

FAA having tough time balancing innovation, traditional expectations of privacy

Miley Cyrus is a singer and actress who lives in Los Angeles, while Kathryn Turskey is a teacher from Ocean Beach. Identical twins they’re not.

This summer, though, both had the identical problem: drones, snooping on their respective homes.

“Drone Pap wtf,” the singer wrote on Instagram under a video of a swooping quadcopter, “Pap” being shorthand for “paparazzi.”

Turskey’s reaction was more eloquent — she teaches language arts, after all — but similar: “At first, I thought it was like a toy. But the more I thought about it, anybody can put these together and spy on people. It definitely is an invasion of privacy.”

Advocates and critics agree that drone technology is racing ahead of regulations, with the FAA struggling to establish uniform rules. In the absence of clear guidelines, drone operators and their unwilling subjects clash.

While gardening at home one July afternoon, Turskey heard a whirring, like the sound of a large insect.

“I looked up and there was this — well, I didn’t know what it was,” she said. “It was hovering. It reminded me of a remote-controlled plane, but it was round.”

The device hovered over the driveway, then flitted down an alley, pausing outside the windows of a neighbor’s porch. It loitered there for a few minutes, then flew away. This intruder’s mission, like its operator, remained a mystery.

“It was just kind of weird,” Turskey said. “My concern is that it could have been videotaping, looking into windows. That’s an invasion of privacy.”

Her husband, John Turskey, posted a notice about this encounter online. He heard back from several other Ocean Beach residents, including Andrew Waltz, a member of the neighborhood planning board.

“I’ve heard people talk about, let’s just grab a rock or a shotgun and shoot these things down,” Waltz said.

Focus on celebrities

In Sacramento so far, the focus has been on drones shadowing celebrities. The Legislature is considering measures to restrict the ability of drones to photograph or video people without their consent.

“We have enough paparazzi issues as it is,” state Sen. Alex Padilla, the author of one such bill, told People magazine. “We certainly don’t need drones with cameras or video recorders hovering over nightclubs, restaurants or the streets of L.A.”

Celebrities, though, aren’t the only ones who feel harassed by peeping drones. As unmanned aerial systems become cheaper and more common, non-Hollywood-types are spotting them over beaches, parks, office buildings — even outside their homes.

“Drones raise new and significant personal privacy issues,” said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. “These are going to have to be considered by policymakers.”

While these devices are new, these questions are not. Privacy laws already penalize photographers who use high-powered lenses to invade private spaces; conversely, people who parade nude before open windows are fair game.

“The question of privacy concerns doesn’t hold up real well,” said Sean Daniels, owner of EZDrone, a San Diego store that sells and services unmanned aerial systems. “That’s more of a knee-jerk reaction.”